Car-coupling.



S. P. BUSH.

GAR COUPLING.

AYPLIOATION FILED 11011.10. 1911. RENEWED AUG. 8, 1914.

Patented 0011.27,1914.

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OAR COUPLING.

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Patented 0013. 27, 1914.

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A Home STATES CAR-COUPLING.

Patented Oct. 2'7, 1914.

Application filed November 10, 1911, Serial No. 659,605. Renewed August 8, 1914. 1 Serial No. 855,904.

To all-whom it may come m:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. BUSH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county ofFranklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

,My invention relates to an improvement in car couplings, the object being to provide a coupling, the locking block of which may be actuated from either side or from above, to release the knuckle, and when actuated to release the knuckle, will be moved to lock set position, and which by its continued movement past its lock set position, will actuate a knuckle opening lever, thus pro viding improved means whereby the knuckle may be released to be turned to its unlocked or open positionby the separation of the cars, or be fully opened for coupling to an approaching car without the necessity ofen tering" between the cars.

With these objects in view my invention consists in the combination of parts and in the details of construction as will be more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view in front elevation of a coupler with the knuckle in locked position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the lock on the lock set. Fig. 3 is a view showing the knuckle open.- Fig. 4 is a plan view. Fig. 5 is a view in transverse vertical section. Figs. 6 and are views of the knuckle opening lever, and Figs. 8, Sand 10 are views of modified forms of projection on the knuckle.

1 epresents the coupler and '2 the knuckle pivoted thereto in the ordinary manner. This knuckle is provided at its rear end with a hook shaped end '3, which when the knuckle is in closed position, rests in an opening in the side of the head of the coupler and assists in relieving the pivot bolt 5, on which the knuckle is pivoted, of the pulling stresses. The rear edge 4 of the tail of the knuckle, is curved as shown in Fig. 4, while its inner edge 5, on the side adjacent the locking block when the knuckle is closed, is straight and flat, so as to have maximum area of contact with said locking a'rnnr curries.

block, without interfering with the free movements of the latter,

The locking block 6 rests and moves within i a housing in the head of the coupling, and is supported and sustained at two. sides throughout its length, by the rear and side walls 7 and 8, and when in its loweredor' locking position, it"issupported by the; front wall 9 above and below the front opening in the coupler head, and also below the knuckle by the inner side wall 10. These walls 7, 8, 9 and 10 form the housing forthe locking block in-which the latter rests and moves, and which sustains it in position to operate automatically, or be operated by its lever.

The outer side wall 8 of the housing for the locking block, is provided at a point below the plane of the lower. face of the knuckle with the beveled seat 11 which is adapted to beengaged by the beveled shoulder 12 formed near the loweriedg'e of :the

locking block 6, and support the latter; in.

its lock'set position, ,or a position where g the reduced portion of the block rests. inthe' plane of the tail of theknuckle 2,.thus permitting the knuckle to turn to its opening position. When the knuckle'is' iniits closed 1 position, and the locking block down as shown in Fig. 1, the enlarged upper endof v the block rests in the path. of rnoveiner'it of the tail of the knuckle and locks-the latter in its closed position.

Passing through an opening in the-rib which latter extends longitudinally of the draw bar in a plane above the knuckle 2, is the knuckle throwing lever 14', providedas shown in Figs 5 and 6, with integral pivot pins or trunnions 15, which rest on the brackets 16, integral with the-partition 13 and on opposite sides of the slot therein, and are restrained against upward displacement by the shoulders 17, which, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are immediately above the pivot 15. This pivot or trunnion is concave above and convex on its underside, and the lever 14 is introduced through the open front of the coupling head in approximately its normal position and elevated so as to bring the horizontal member thereof into the slot in partition 13. The lever is then moved to the left so as to bring the trunnions beyond the free ends of the brackets 16, and after the trunnions have been elevated to a planeabove the brackets, the lever isthen moved to the right and lowered until its trunnions rest on the brackets and under the shoulders 17. This lever 14 is shaped as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, with its horizontal member resting in the plane of movement of the locking block 6, so as to be engaged and turned thereby, while its vertical member is projected forwardly, as shown in Fig. 4 and projects down to the outside of the tail of the knuckle, between the hook 3 on the latter and the pivot pin 5, a housing 18 being formed on the side of the coupling head to permit of the necessary freedom of movement of said lever.

The tail of the knuckle is provided on its upper face with a tripping surface which latter may be constructed as shown in Fig. 5 or as at 19, 19 and 19 in Figs. 8, 9 and 10 respectively. In these several constructions the tripping surface is inclined on its front face as shown in the drawings above referred to, and it may be provided with an abrupt incline on its rear face as shown in Fig. 5, or it may be provided with a gradual rear incline extending to the rear end of the tail of the knuckle, as shown in Fig. 8, or it may continue back straight with no incline at all, as in Fig. 9, or it may be applied to a knuckle tail having an upward incline, as in Fig.10.

The bell crank lever 20 is pivoted at its elbow to the lugs 21 integral with the coupling head, and its lower end engages the lower end of the locking block, an opening being provided through the floor of the coupling head to permit of such engagement. This lever is provided with a hole for its at tachment to a suitable operating lever.

The operation of unlocking is simply that of raising the lock 6, and seating its shoulder 12 on the seat 11 formed on the side wall 10 of the locking block housing. When in this position the tail of the knuckle 2 is in the plane of the reduced portion of the locking block and is therefore free to be turned, the lower end of the locking block is so shaped and formed that the lifting engagement therewith of the end of lever 20 tends to force the shoulder 12 toward the seat, hence if the shoulder 12 on locking block be elevated above the seat 11, and the block then released, it will descend onto the seat and the block 6 be retained in its lock set position.

In this particular coupling the movement of the shoulder 12 toward its seat 11 is assisted by the contact of the upper end of the block 6 with the end of the knuckle throwing lever 14. As the knuckle is opened either by the separation of the cars, or by the knuckle opening lever 14, the tripping lug 19, on the tail of the knuckle, engages the underside of the shoulder 21 on the looking block, and raises the block, but the movement of the knuckle is in a direction to force the locking block toward wall 8, hence when the apex of the tripping surfaces of projection 19 leaves shoulder 21, the locking block rides on the top surface of the rojection 19 if the top surface of the latter be straight or upwardly inclined, or settles down onto its seat 11 if the rear face of projection 19 be downwardly inclined before the knuckle has reached its open position, thus leaving the locking block lock set or in a position to be lowered when the knuckle is closed. In closing the knuckle, if the rear of the projection 19 be downwardly inclined either abrupt or gradual, this rear incline will engage the shoulder 21 on the locking block and lift the latter off its seat 11. If however the projection be straight on top, or upwardly inclined so that the projection on the knuckle will support the locking block when the knuckle is open, then in the closing movement of the knuckle, the friction between the top surface of the projection and the shoulder 21 of the locking block, will carry the locking block away from its seat 11 and so hold it until the knuckle is fully closed when it will fall to locking position in front of the knuckle. In all of the constructions the direction of movement of the tripping surface is away from the seat 11, and the locking block will be moved inwardly, and as the tripping surface of projection 19 leaves the shoulder 21, the latter will settle down on the tail of the knuckle, and remain there until the knuckle is fully closed. As the tail of the knuckle leaves the shoulder 21 of the locking block 6 the latter falls in front of the tail, and thus locks the knuckle in its closed position.

One of the features of this invention is the extended knuckle tail, having the tripping lug or surface 19 thereon, and a hook 3 at its end, and the knuckle opener engaging the tail intermediate the hook and pivot of the knuckle. This hook 3 at the end, in addition to assisting in taking the pulling stresses also limits the movement of the lower end of the lever and thus prevents it from gettin into a position in rear of the tail of the muckle, where it could become wedged. In order to manually throw the knuckle to its open position, it is simply necessary to elevate the block above its lock set position, shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3. This movement of the locking block, turns the throwing lever 14 on its fulcrum. thus forcing its vertical member inwardly against the tail of the knuckle, which operates to throw the knuckle to its open position.

It will be observed, that the tripper lug or surface 19, in the opening movement of the knuckle, elevates the shoulder 12 ofi its seat 11, but does not trip it, or remove it from its rock set position until the closing movement of the knuckle, and it is so located with relation to the tail of the knuckle, that the latter moves a considerable distance in opening before the tripping lug engages the locking block.

This coupler while designed particularly for passenger car service, is also applicable for general service, may be actuated from either side or from the top, and is automatic both in its coupling and uncoupling.

In the drawings Fig. 1, the lever 20 is shown pivoted to the right hand side of the head. When so located the end of the lever engages the inclined surface at the lower end of the locking block and shifts same toward its seat. Vhen the lever is at the opposite side of the head as in Fig. 5, the weight of the locking block, as the lever is turned, causes the block to slide on the lever over toward its seat, hence the lever, can without change in its construction or changing the construction of the locking block, be placed at either side of the head.

It is evident that many slight changes might be resorted to in the relative arrangement of parts shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention hence I would ha e it understood that I do not wish to confine myself to the exact construction and arrangement of parts shown and described, but,

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. In a car coupling the combination with a draw head, the inner face of a side wall of said head being provided with a seat for supporting the locking block in its lock set position, of a locking block having a shoulder to engage said seat and a shoulder on its side adjacent the knuckle, and a knuckle the tail of which is provided on its upper side at a point removed from the front end of the tail with an upward projection adapted to engage the underside of the shoulder on the block adjacent the knuckle for lifting the locking block from its seat during the opening movement of the knuckle without shifting it from the vertical plane of its seat, and for shifting it away from the vertical plane of its seat during the closing movement of the knuckle, the said knuckle tail being of a size sufiicient to rest under the shoulder on the locking block at all times when the knuckle is wholly or partly open so that in the event the locking block should be dislodged from its seat it will rest on the knuckle tail.

In a car coupling, the combination with a coupling head having an internal, slotted partition and a housing, of a knuckle pivoted to said head, a locking block in the housing, and a knuckle throwing lever passing through the slot in said partition and removably and pivotally mounted in bearings carried by said partition, the said knuckle throwing lever having one member adapted to be engaged by the locking block, and another member adapted to engage the tail of the knuckle.

3. In a car coupling the combination with a draw head, a locking block therein, the inner face of a side wall of said head being provided with a seat for supporting the locking block in its lock set position, of a locking block located wholly within the coupling head and having a shoulder to engage said seat, and a shoulder on the side adjacent the knuckle, and a knuckle the tail of which is provided on its upper side at a point removed from the front end of the tail with an upward projection adapted to engage the under side of the shoulder on the block adjacent the knuckle for lifting the locking block from its seat during the opening movement of the knuckle, without shifting it laterally from the plane of its seat, and for shifting it laterally away from its seat during the closing movement of the knuckle, the said knuckle tail being of a length suflicient to rest under the locking block at all times when the knuckle is wholly or partly open so that in the event the block should be dislodged from its seat it will rest on the knuckle tail.

4. In a car coupling, the combination with a draw head having a side wall provided with a seat for supporting the locking block in its lock-set position, of a locking block one side of its under surface being adapted to engage said seat, and a knuckle provided on its upper side at a point removed from the front end of the tail with an upward projection adapted to engage the locking block and lift it from its lock-set seat during the opening movement of the knuckle without shifting it from the vertical plane of its seat, and for moving the locking block and shifting it away from the vertical plane of its scat during the closing movement of the knuckle, the knuckle tail being constructed to prevent the descent of the locking block at all times when the knuckle is wholly or partly open so that in the event the locking block should be dislodged from its seat it will rest on the knuckle tail.

In testimony whereof. I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL P. BUSH.

Witnesses:

Gno. G. IVERRING, W. J. BENNETT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 13.0. 

